Directors' duties and contingency planning

We regularly provide our clients with advice on directors' duties and wider stakeholder management, including responding to questions and enquiries from insolvency office holders.

We're sympathetic to the fact that in many cases, a company or an individual can experience financial difficulties that are not of their own making.

We are regularly instructed by directors who want help to achieve the best outcome for everyone concerned. We work with investors, shareholders and directors on planning and executing financial restructurings, contingency planning and corporate exits.

In our experience, the earlier we can be involved in a situation, the more opportunities are available for a successful outcome and we can offer support to directors and shareholders as soon as potential financial distress is identified.

We also help all stakeholders understand the options available, advising on the best course of action to achieve the successful rescue and restructuring of a business.

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• Advising a large Norwegian group with manufacturing subsidiaries in England that had ceased trading years ago on a slow stream of low value employees’ claims. There was a desire to close down the subsidiaries, bring finality for the directors and shareholders and simplify the group structure. We carried out a risk based analysis of the employees claims (business and liquidator) prior to commencing the MVL.
• Advising an IT manufacturer, the English subsidiary of a large Italian group that ceased trading, and was faced with a long tail of assessment of HMRC trading losses and landlord’s claim. We commenced an MVL but reserved certain powers to the group representative director, so that the day to day conduct of the close down could be carried out most cost effectively, we drafted appropriate indemnities to provide comfort to the liquidators and the director involved. The liquidation closed in a timely fashion.
• Acting for a significant landlord creditor on Carluccio's company voluntary arrangements (CVAs).
• Advising a company director in conjunction with its accountants on the director's duties to creditors where the company was verging on insolvency.